Prepared Panthers no match for prolific Navy attack

Naval Academy senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds finished his record-breaking season with a 44-28 win over the Pittsburgh Panthers at the 2015 Military Bowl. (Ulysses Munoz / BSMG)

Naval Academy senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds finished his record-breaking season with a 44-28 win over the Pittsburgh Panthers at the 2015 Military Bowl. (Ulysses Munoz / BSMG)

Mike Moreammorea@capgaznews.com

Even with 30 days to prepare for the prolific Navy triple-threat option offense, the University of Pittsburgh had no answers on defense for record-setting quarterback Keenan Reynolds and the Midshipmen.

Navy tallied a record total of 590 yards on offense, with Reynolds accounting for 144 rushing, 126 passing and 47 receiving to lead the Mids to a 44-28 victory in the Military Bowl on Monday.

The senior that has set a multitude of NCAA records, including netting his 88th career touchdown to break the record that was just set by Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Dixon in the recent New Orleans Bowl game on Dec. 19, knew some things might have to change on offense to defeat a surging team like Pitt.

The four weeks of practice and having played Georgia Tech, which uses the same triple-threat offense under former Navy head coach Paul Johnson, didn't seem to help the Panthers. They were dominated in time of possession, 42 minutes, 5 seconds to 17:55. They were outdone in total offensive yards, 590 to 335, despite just having one less possession than Navy (11-10).

"Sometimes you can over-analyze stuff, and I felt like we played Georgia Tech better, but they did some different stuff," Panthers' coach Pat Narduzzi said. "(Navy) probably watched that Georgia Tech game 150 times, saw some things they liked. You can't prepare for stuff you don't know is coming. They had a little bit of time to prepare. How often do you see Navy line up in an (empty backfield set). There is a reason they've won (11) games."

Photos from the 2015 Military Bowl between Navy and Pitt at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

That reason, as Narduzzi and his defensive players found out, was Navy's execution and Reynolds' creativity and athleticism. On numerous occasions, Reynolds or fullback Chris Swain, who gained 114 yards on 27 carries, cut back into open space to gain more yardage. When Pitt seemed to bottle up the running game early, offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper would call for a Reynolds pass. The fifth highest vote-getter for the Heisman Trophy completed nine of 17 passes and also caught a pass from third-string fullback Shawn White for a 47-yard gain.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo attributed the trick play to the extra time to prepare for the bowl game.

"The kids just executed. We try to do the best we can. Ivin is a really good coach. We have a really good offensive staff," Niumatalolo said. "We just tried to make some adjustments and that's what we did. We knew they were going to be aggressive. We had some tape from the Georgia Tech game. We never really know how people are going to line up. But when you have a four-year starter at quarterback, it allows you to make some adjustment on the fly. Obviously he did a really good job."

While Reynolds set the records, it was Swain who grabbed most of the inside yards.

"We just executed up front. The five guys up front, they did a great job blocking, along with the A backs, and me when I had to," Swain said. "We accomplished what we wanted to do."

Even if Pitt had two or more months to prepare, the outcome may not have been different.

"Sometimes you can have too much time on your hands trying to prevent all the stuff that they did. And they did a lot of different stuff today," Narduzzi said. "They made plays and we didn't."

Navy also chewed up big chunks of the clock with each possession. Punter Alex Barta only had to kick once and the Mids had the ball when the first half concluded and the game ended. Navy had scoring drives of 5:20, 6:47, 4:23, 2:32, 2:42, 6:59 and 5:16.

So much for limiting the third-leading rushing offense in the country, 22nd in scoring offense and 59th in total offense.